$1 Trillion Debt Crushes Business Dreams of U.S. Students

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Dr. Steve Sherick wants to build the emergency-care business he started two years ago that now employs seven doctors and two part-time administrators. The $300,000 in student loans he and his wife carry makes that prospect difficult, he said.

Sherick, 36, who contracts with a local hospital in Trinidad, Colorado, about 200 miles south of Denver, graduated in 2009 with about $140,000 of debt. That’s not counting the student loans of his wife, a pediatric oncologist, and their mortgage. He would like to hire a full-time administrator and offer more competitive salaries to entice doctors to work in the rural community.